Cocktails and Coaching

Have you thought about your brand and what your brand statement is?  I've got 5 simple steps to help you write your brand statement in just a few minutes. Let's start by thinking… What is a brand?  ·        A brand is what people say about you after you've left the room . ·        It's how people describe you. ·        Your words, actions, decisions and body language all impact your brand. But remember, it's not just about reality … how people perceive you could be different to reality - but it has a massive impact on your brand. So grab a pen and paper and write down what comes to mind when I ask you the following 5 questions: 1.       W hen people think of you w hat words do you think come to mind? 2.        How would you like people to describe you? o    It could be innovative, respectful, caring, inspiring, fun, genuine, energet...

Like all parents, 2 months ago my world got thrown upside down with the reality of having to homeschool 2 young children while working full time! It's definitely not been easy, but guess what?... 2 months on and we're all surviving! The kids may not have learnt any new times tables! And my husband and I often spend time working after the kids are in bed. But… We now have a family dinner EVERY night (which never used to happen) and last week my girls scored me a 9 out of 10 for being a good mum/teacher! #winning (It had been a particularly good day!) Recently I was interviewed by Donna Elliott on the topic of 'pandemic parenting' , and I wanted to share with you all my top tips. You can also watch the 30 minute interview on YouTube here. Tip 1. Organise, diarise but be realistic My husband and I send each other meeting invites so we know who is 'in charge' of the kids, it helps us to be organised, but we also know that we won't stick t...

Imagine this - you're out for dinner, you've eaten way too much food and are full! But, the desert menu comes and you see sticky toffee pudding  on the menu, and guess what… You find room!! (Well I always do anyway!) For me helping people is like that! I could be up to my eyeballs - deadlines, presentations, meetings. But someone asks if I've got 5 minutes to help them and my answer is always yes! I've come to realise that not only is it my 'sticky toffee pudding' but it's also where I get my energy from. So whether it's coaching, mentoring, writing a blog or just a quick conversation helping someone, if I can find time for that, it'll give me a boost of energy to tackle the rest of my day. So my question to you… What’s your 'sticky toffee pudding’?  And once you’ve found it, approach it with as much passion and commitment as you can.

Are you a glass half full or a glass half empty kind of person? I'm definitely a glass half full person, however, 3 weeks ago, like everyone else my world got turned upside down….  Faced with the thought of juggling homeschooling our 6 and 9 year olds while me and my husband both work with the unknown of what was going to happen over the coming weeks and months,  my anxiety levels were extremely high …  But the feeling I had more than anxiety was  guilt !!  What right did I have to feel anxious  when others were in far worse situations than me, I'm still working, we're all healthy, I have a garden, my kids are old enough to entertain themselves… I felt I had no right to feel anxious. Then 2 things happened. 1st -  I have some amazing friends who I vented to… who didn't judge, just listened, sympathised and assured me my feelings were 'normal'. Told me I had the 'right' to feel these feelings and said I didn’t need to feel guilty. ...

Have you ever wondered how some people just seem to have a knack of being able to persuade you to do something? (like stay for just one more drink!!!)…   If you want to either learn how to influence and persuade people or maybe to just be more aware of people trying to influence you, then keep reading as there are 4 styles you need to be aware of. I've split this blog into 4 parts so that I can keep to my usual short and hopefully sweet style!  This is part one with the next three to follow.. In each part I'll share the style and then bring it to life for you… I've given the same example for each one to show that you really can use any of the 4 styles depending on who you're trying to influence… I've used an example that I'm faced with day in, day out in my job but you really can spin it for absolutely anything. Persuading This type of influencing is called persuading …  This is a good one to use when you are seen as the expert and you have...

Are you the type of person who gets on a plane and keeps your head down? Or are you the type of person who strikes up a conversation with the person sat next to you? For those who know me, you'll know that I'm definitely the kind to strike up a conversation! And I'm glad to say I did this just a few weeks ago. Picture this - I'm sat there reading my 'TED talks' book (which I highly recommend by Chris Anderson) and the person sat next to me asks me if I'm doing a talk? 'Yes' I say, 'I'm talking to 60 people at a Women In Tech Sales event next week' to which her response was 'Amazing… I'm a professional speaker'! Now, there was no way I could pass up this opportunity so I asked her for all her top tips and was soon sat there scribbling them all down in my book. Imagine how happy I was when a week later I did my presentation, having weaved in ALL of her top tips, and received some fantastic feedback. So let m...

If you want to know how to build a strong team then you could go on a course for a few days, you could read a 300 page book or… You could just take the advice from my eight-year-old daughter! The other morning I told her that I had a team meeting and I was thinking about what to do in it. ‘ What do you want to get from the meeting? ’ she said (just the question alone surprised me if I’m honest, bearing in mind she’s 8!) ‘ I want my team to figure out how they can work really well together ’ I said. Her instant response was ‘ Communicate more! ’ So I told her ‘ I also want everybody to say what a great job my team is doing ’ her response… ‘ Believe in yourselves ’ At that point I thought I’d pass her a pen and paper and ask her to write down her top tips… She thought 5 points would be good so here they are! 1. Communicate more 2. Believe in yourselves 3. Share your worries 4. Tell someone when you need help 5. Decide together I’m obviously bias but I think that’s prett...